Anyone like a physical qwerty

People always say im ridiculous for wanting a phone with a full USB plug for thumb drives. They say it would take away from the phones "thinness," and im glad Im not the only one who would prefer a hardcore super useful phone over a "thin" one. Besides, once people shove one down in an otter box they are pretty thick anyways. Why not make tough phone that actually makes use of its size? Like a nice battery, USB, etc. And of course as a business guy I'd love that real physical qwerty!

You don't need a full size USB port. All you need is USB-OTG functionality. I have it on my Passport and I'm using it in ways I never dreamed of. With a microUSB to USB adapter I can connect thumb drives, wireless keyboards and even an old Olympus camera to download pictures.

We're supposed to get USB-OTG with Windows 10 and my 1520 is eagerly awaiting.

Because BlackBerry seems incapable of building reliable physical keyboards anymore, maybe there is a market that Windows Phone can fill.

eleborate on this. No keyboard is better than a Passport keyboard and it is a touch physical keyboard which any other pc hardware company can't even do or even thought of, never mind it being put into a phone.

I can scroll, flick suggested words, delete whole words and use my keyboard as a trackpad for editing/highlighting without having to touch the screen or a mouse. That is probably the most innovative keyboard on the market right now.

The only reason why i have a BlackBerry right now is because of the amazing keyboard. There is 0 bugs with the keyboard. I would prefer my Passport running WP10, iOS8 or Android since the HUB is going cross platform.

Don't listen to the media, the media bashes BlackBerry even more than WP.

eleborate on this. No keyboard is better than a Passport keyboard and it is a touch keyboard which any other pc hardware company can't even do or do it as good as the passport keyboard.

The only reason why i have a BlackBerry right now is because of the amazing keyboard. There is 0 bugs with the keyboard. I would prefer my Passport running WP10, iOS8 or Android since the HUB is going cross platform.

Don't listen to the media, the media bashes BlackBerry even more than WP.

The BB passport definitely is a good device, battery life, keyboard ect ect but its sad to see it dying (or perhaps that's just the media)

The BB passport definitely is a good device, battery life, keyboard ect ect but its sad to see it dying (or perhaps that's just the media)

BlackBerry won't probably last as a hardware company (even though the new "software" CEO seems to be pushing out more hardware than software) but it will definitely last as a software company.

Microsoft should have bought BlackBerry. They could throw their crappy Ford Sync in the garbage and replace it with QNX (in most cars today, even CarPlay uses QNX as a microkernel), IOT, enterprise/security is what microsoft is striving for. Much better hardware than the Nokia phones which look like colourful candy bars to me. I do like Nokia consumer services (apps) much better than Blackberry's like HERE.

BlackBerry is insanely innovative hardware wise vs Nokia and Microsoft is all about innovative hardware.

For a company that doesn't have as much money as Microsoft, Samsung, Apple and LG (they can buy blackberry with pocket change) they have amazing hardware somehow and even Z30 (being outdated) can keep up in a lot of aspects with their phones. Everyone thought HTC One speakers were/are amazing, listen to a Z30's/Passport speakers.

BlackBerry won't probably last as a hardware company (even though the new "software" CEO seems to be pushing out more hardware than software) but it will definitely last as a software company.

Microsoft should have bought BlackBerry. They could throw their crappy Ford Sync in the garbage and replace it with QNX (in most cars today, even CarPlay uses QNX as a microkernel), IOT, enterprise/security is what microsoft is striving for. Much better hardware than the Nokia phones which look like colourful candy bars to me. I do like Nokia consumer services (apps) much better than Blackberry's like HERE.

BlackBerry is insanely innovative hardware wise vs Nokia and Microsoft is all about innovative hardware.

For a company that doesn't have as much money as Microsoft, Samsung, Apple and LG (they can buy blackberry with pocket change) they have amazing hardware somehow and even Z30 (being outdated) can keep up in a lot of aspects with their phones. Everyone thought HTC One speakers were/are amazing, listen to a Z30's/Passport speakers.

If they did buy BB, I'm afraid that MS will have to cut more jobs and lay more people off, just like they did after buying Nokia's phone division.

The whole idea of onscreen keyboards is flawed. Due to being onscreen.
They take up half the space. And you're never sure which keyboard layout you're gonna get. Or what the Enter button will do (will it take me to next field? Backwards? An OK button?). They also usually pop up and hide whatever action buttons are available on the page/app. And no touch feedback (not talking about haptic, I mean actual fingers-across-keys touch). Give me the keyboard from a Wizard or TyTN II over even the best swypey onscreen nonsense anyday.

This is SO true. Every word of it.

I've actually still got my Wizard, and my wife and I both still use it, just not for a phone. We use it for Grocery shopping using the Handy Shopper app. Still nothing as good as the old Handy Shopper on iOS, Android, or WP. For that, I have to keep my old Windows Mobile 5 phone. Plus, the keyboard is backlit. Must have for physical keyboard on a phone.

Originally Posted by ajayden

They must implement the new way, Surface style, like phone cover and keyboard.

Not for me, thanks. It would be a constant battle flipping it out of the way to answer the phone. For a tablet, it's the best possible solution. For a phone, not so much. I want a slider that stays out of the way until I need it. Don't want keys across the bottom, that also takes up screen area.

Originally Posted by Nokia_Lumia

The arrow keys/D-pad were also very useful, along with the call/end keys. It is really a shame that absolutely everyone followed Apple and there are almost no physical button devices today.
...
Working with Outlook and MS Office was also easier: I had the entire screen to see, with keyboard for typing, and stylus for precise selection of word/paragraph/cell.(That is aside from the fact that Windows Mobile was way ahead of its time, and even today is in some ways ahead of WinPhone 8 for productivity)

^^THIS! I'd still use the wordflow keyboard for a quick text, or the speech recognition, but for working in Excel/Word/Powerpoint/Outlook, I need a physical keyboard.

Originally Posted by hotphil

Please enough with the "slimmer" already. :-)
Thick. Fill it with battery. Review, make thicker, add more battery. Sell smartphone with real-word full day battery life. Take all the money.

I actually liked the design that Microsoft abandoned where it had the slide-out keyboard with interchangeable parts. It could have the keyboard, or swap that out for a game controller with D-Pad and buttons, or swap that out for spare battery power for extra juice on the go. I would SO buy that with a 6" screen and USB-OTG.

Originally Posted by hotphil

Actual keys. Not Touch Cover ones. And remember the little dots or ridges on a couple of the keys that allow you to truly touch type. But illuminated is good too.

Illuminated isn't just good, it's a must have. So are the bumps. Can't touch type without bumps or ridges.

Originally Posted by worldspy99

So I am going to chime in here with a contrarian view. Having got the hang of Word Flow (on my WP devices) or Swype (on my Nexus 7) I for one do not wish or long for a physical keyboard. Also I use the talk to type feature on WP and Android quite a bit as well so for me a physical keyboard is not something that I pine for.

This is coming from someone who used a HTC TyTn II for 40 months straight, the longest streak for any smartphone in my stable. The second longest streak is a Lumia 810.

This comes from people who don't do touch typing. For people who want to do actual office work on their phone (corporate types, I suppose, or me) and who are also adequate typists, no touch flow keyboard on screen can keep up with actual typing. I can type 50+ words per minute on my old HTC 8125 Wizard, and that is a REALLY small keyboard.

I can get messages done a lot faster than speech recognition, because I don't have to go in and correct errors and insert correct punctuation, etc. Yeah, I make sure texts are "mostly" grammatically correct and spelled correctly. It's called "Grammar OCD" and I'm proud of it.

I can get messages done a lot faster than speech recognition, because I don't have to go in and correct errors and insert correct punctuation, etc. Yeah, I make sure texts are "mostly" grammatically correct and spelled correctly. It's called "Grammar OCD" and I'm proud of it.

Amen on the grammar.

If you're like me, you probably have to carry a small bag with maybe a tablet or something. I carry a slate PC from the time of T-Rex because nothing beats Windows Journal for notes on an active digitizer. I also carry the Microsoft wireless RF keyboard ($26 at Best Buy) with the trackpad and with the USB-OTG I mentioned a few posts ago, my Passport becomes an email powerhouse and an Excel champ. That's how I roll because I need to get work DONE.

I don't have the slate PC. I do have a touchscreen 15.6" Laptop, and frequently "360" it and make it a "monitor only", with my Logitech Nano-receiver plugged in for my wireless mouse and keyboard. HDMI to a large screen, and I'm running a nice dual monitor setup with no desk clutter. If I need to go somewhere, I unplug and take the laptop with me. I can write on the screen if I need to, but I'm too fast a typist to do handwriting. Handwriting hurts me if I do too much. I usually only use it for quick annotations to documents.

Tactile keyboard for me. When your handwriting is a slow 25-30wpm but you can type 70-80wpm more accurately than you can write, with the added ability of actually being able to read it later, well, the solution is simple. Hardware keyboard. Word flow on screen keyboard gets about 20wpm... 35 if you're really proficient. Still, it makes a lot of errors that lowers the average number. A good hardware clickable keyboard only makes the errors you make and never inserts an error because it thought you meant something else. THAT's the big advantage of a keyboard.

If I had a 1520 with Windows 10 USB-OTG, I'd plug in my RF receiver for my Logitech wireless keyboard and mouse when it was time to edit a spreadsheet or something. Who am I kidding, I'd do it on the laptop. Still, a built in keyboard with arrow keys and/or a Dpad would be a must have for getting things done when you don't have your laptop with you. I still don't understand why there are no navigation keys in the on-screen keyboard.

I'm sure there are many people who would welcome a physical keyboard back, but it will probably not ever happen. In order for it to gain any type of credibility, clout, or praise, its functionality and form would have to be perfect or damn near perfect for the physical keyboard aficionados. I don't think MS would even think about it. They (or anyone not BlackBerry) would have to devote tons of resources and R&D to make this happen (to be perfect or damn near perfect). They have way bigger fish to fry at this point.

I'm sure there are many people who would welcome a physical keyboard back, but it will probably not ever happen. In order for it to gain any type of credibility, clout, or praise, its functionality and form would have to be perfect or damn near perfect for the physical keyboard aficionados. I don't think MS would even think about it. They (or anyone not BlackBerry) would have to devote tons of resources and R&D to make this happen (to be perfect or damn near perfect). They have way bigger fish to fry at this point.

I agree. Even though there is niche group that would love it, its too much of a risk for MS to care.

I'd like a physical keyboard. As long as it comes with a decently sized screen, I'm all in.
I currently use a Q10 and no issues. Tried the Passport and really liked it. The Classic would be a great replacement for my Q10, but a Classic/Passport with WP and a Pureview camera would be nice.

I'd like a physical keyboard. As long as it comes with a decently sized screen, I'm all in.
I currently use a Q10 and no issues. Tried the Passport and really liked it. The Classic would be a great replacement for my Q10, but a Classic/Passport with WP and a Pureview camera would be nice.

The Passport's camera is no slouch. Thought I'd never say that about a BB camera. Not in the same league as the 1520's shooter under low-light conditions but not many are.

Yes, yes, yes. I want a GOOD physical qwerty keyboard, as good as or better then the HTC TouchPro 2 (TP2) backlit, physical, clicking, slider keyboard SO I CAN SEE THE TEXT, in context, ON THE WHOLE SCREEN. I accomplished so much work, typing endlessly, creating content, getting WORK done using my HTC TP2. Let's create content and get work done!

Yes yes oh yes I would love one. I even miss the good old days of the T9 dictionary. Typing messages was a doddle I could text three messages in the time it takes me to type one full text message on my Lumia 520. Physical Qwerty needs to happen!!

eleborate on this. No keyboard is better than a Passport keyboard and it is a touch physical keyboard which any other pc hardware company can't even do or even thought of, never mind it being put into a phone.

I can scroll, flick suggested words, delete whole words and use my keyboard as a trackpad for editing/highlighting without having to touch the screen or a mouse. That is probably the most innovative keyboard on the market right now.

The only reason why i have a BlackBerry right now is because of the amazing keyboard. There is 0 bugs with the keyboard. I would prefer my Passport running WP10, iOS8 or Android since the HUB is going cross platform.

Don't listen to the media, the media bashes BlackBerry even more than WP.

I'm one of the people that bailed on BlackBerry because of the double typing issue on my Q10. Now I see that people are having the double typing issue on the Classic and Passport. It was inexcusable on the Q10, and worse yet that it's happening on the new models. Yep, the Passport keyboard is a cool concept, but if I have to constantly go back to correct spelling, it loses it's advantage.
As far as I'm concerned, with the current virtual keyboards, physical keyboards have lost their advantage, but I do recognize some people will always want real keyboards.

This comes from people who don't do touch typing. For people who want to do actual office work on their phone (corporate types, I suppose, or me) and who are also adequate typists, no touch flow keyboard on screen can keep up with actual typing. I can type 50+ words per minute on my old HTC 8125 Wizard, and that is a REALLY small keyboard.

I'd be more interested in support for a Bluetooth or USB keyboard to use with a touchscreen smartphone.

I can touch type, but on a full size keyboard, using all 10 of my fingers. I learned how to type on a typewriter when I was in high school.

Touch typing to me does not involve tiny keys on a phone. I could never use more than my thumbs on my old Nokia and BlackBerry devices. I type faster and more accurately on a phone using WordFlow or SwiftKey.